


Angels Without Shame

by Ilerre



Series: The Walking Dead Prompts - Dixoncest / Dixcest [10]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 12:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4521534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilerre/pseuds/Ilerre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was strange, Merle thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angels Without Shame

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt submitted by Higgystar:  
>  During Season 5, before Alexandria, when the group are on the road and barely surviving, Merle worries about Daryl more than usual. He’s not eating, not drinking his fair share, not speaking and worrying Merle that he’s really gotten too lost this time. ******

0

It was strange, Merle thought.

Even after about two years since the Turn, and gasoline having become the new gold of this messed up world, he could still see the waves of oil rising from the too hot tarmac. 

It bended the horizon. It blurred the world. 

It made Merle think about his previous life. His garage, his goddamn honest business. The thing that made him a successful mechanic and able to care for Daryl after winning his custody. 

It was sad.

Sad and unfair. 

"Here," he whispered, one hand pressing a bottle of water to Daryl's cracked lips, the other pushing the drenched bangs away from his forehead. Away from his eyes to make him  _see_ Daryl. "C'mon, sweetheart," he muttered when the kid barely blinked and missed swallowing the first gulp. "Where're ya, uh, baby?" he whispered. "Where did ya disappear to, uh?" 

He pinched his lips together and rubbed his forehead, nodding at Grimes when the man handed him a stale power bar. He quickly unfolded it and broke it in small pieces. He could see from the permanent trembling in Daryl's hands that the kid wouldn't be able to feed himself. 

He sighed and just knowing exactly what to do, inched closer to Daryl, sitting with his back to the barn's planks of wood. In gentle, careful movements he maneuvered his little brother into his lap, and tightened an arm around his waist, face darkening at the concave stomach under his palm. Finally, he leaned forward and just wrapped his whole body around his brother protectively. Just wishing he could fuse them together and never let Daryl go. 

Merle nearly choked on the painful rush of emotion that suddenly engulfed him. He closed his eyes against the side of Daryl's head, struggling to breathe through the shudder of his lips.

The warm pressure of his body seemed to immediately reassure his brother because Daryl suddenly blindly clung to the sensation, bone-thin fingers clawing at Merle's forearm and clinging to the back of his shirt. 

Daryl had been apathetic for days, motionless. Merle could feel the bone deep exhaustion in the chattering of Daryl's teeth, in the convulsions of his quivering body, too tired to do more. 

He felt tears roll down his neck, leaving wet tracks and lowered his head until he pressed his lips to Daryl's cheek, gently licking the salty water marring Daryl's dirty face, leaving clear trails against his sharp cheekbones. 

"It's okay," he whispered. "C'mon, eat." Daryl turned his head away, shoving his face harder into Merle's collarbone. "No, baby," Merle gently admonished, pressing a small piece of cereal bar against his brother's lips, "ya havta eat."

Daryl's breath caught on a sob, continuing to avoid Merle's fingers. After a few halted attempts he just gave in, a choked, ragged cry escaping his lips and leaving him hoarse. It had to hurt, Daryl was too undernourished now and his body couldn't stand the force of his sobbing, and his sobs surely greatly hurt his unused throat.  He was groaning in pain with every hitch of his breath, completely lost and only able to understand the feeling of Merle's body entangled with his.

Merle didn't say anything; he didn't try to silence him, just tried to calm him with gentle gesture and kisses. He pressed his mouth into Daryl's hair and just held him. Wishing…wishing for a lot of things, but mainly for Daryl to claw himself out of this pit of despair dripping from his every pore.

Daryl finally relaxed into Merle's chest, head resting heavily against his chest with his ear against his heart, listening to the calming and familiar beat. They stayed like that for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of the others, of the barn, of the woods outside; it felt strangely soothing. Then Daryl sighed in exhaustion, his whole body sagging against Merle. 

"You need to eat." Merle's voice quietly said, low and comforting, fingers gently trailing along Daryl's sharp collarbone. 

Daryl lifted heavy arms to wrap around Merle's neck and just curled around him. He only pulled himself up further into Merle's lap, burying his face into his neck, depositing gentle feather like kisses along his throat. Merle let him, recognizing Daryl's need to reassure himself with physical proof.

He sighed and tightened his arms around his little brother's body until they were impossibly closer, their two bodies so meshed together it was hard to tell them apart. He felt Daryl lift a hand blindly for his face, pressing his palms against Merle's cheek. 

Merle let him again, turning his face to kiss the still trembling digits.

He finally sighed, and moved his legs so Daryl shifted and sat on the ground in the cradle of his thighs. He started again with trying to make Daryl eat, and after a few seconds, the kid finally opened his mouth and accepted the small piece of power bar. 

"Good," Merle gently encouraged, crooning gentle praises and loving endearments into Daryl's ear until he ate about half the treat and weakly pushed Merle's hand away. 

Not happy but conceding, Merle swallowed the remaining half in one great chew, shifting and moving them again so Daryl was once more tucked impossibly close. 

He grabbed Daryl's hand, tender fingers ghosting over the new cigarette burn before tugging Daryl's shirt sleeve to hide it by covering the scar and his hand until only the tip of his fingers pointed out. "Don't do that," he muttered against his temple. "Don't fuckin' do that."

Suddenly drained, Merle closed his eyes with his lips against Daryl's clammy and cold forehead. "Come back." He hummed quietly and fought against the sudden urge to simply let sleep take over him. "Don't leave me." 

He felt Daryl's fingers around his wrist gently tapping a familiar Morse sequence against his vein before he felt him sag against him. 

"Yeah, baby, me too," he muttered in the dead of the night. Hollowed. Empty.

0

**Author's Note:**

> This work is unbetaed. Please feel free to point any typos you saw or missing words, or any sentences that just don't make any sense :)
> 
> [SUBMIT A PROMPT HERE](http://hillbells.tumblr.com/submit)


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